Post Race Depression (Read 897 times)

I've grown to admire you as friends here, and I'm going to ask you for a little help. You can say "no" if you can't help or aren't willing to help. You can ignore this post if you choose.

As you may know, a couple of months ago, I did my Ironman. I "climbed my Everest". That was great and amazing. It consumed my life for years and allowed me to accomplish what I wanted to accomplish. For race report, see here

However, now, I'm in a funk. I believe that it's called "post race depression." I don't think I need medical help, I need motivation.

I'm able to run a few miles.

I'm "functioning".

But, I'm out of balance mentally and physically, and need to become balanced and motivated.

By way of example, yesterday, I stood in the pool at the gym for 5 minutes before walking out to sit in the sauna. My head never got wet.

I need motivation!

Maybe it's a BQ.

Maybe it's another Ironman.

Maybe it's an ultra-marathon.

Maybe it's 365 consecutive days running.

Maybe it's x miles per year.

There's something in me that NEEDS to be driven. Right now, I'm not.

I haven't had this before, and hope to have a goal within the next couple of weeks so that I can wake up from this funk and become balanced.

That funk is normal for me and it starts with 'I have all this extra time now that I'm not running'. It doesn't last long and always feels like it's a forever-feeling.

Personally I'd probably pick up a book, maybe on how to BQ (Run Less, Run Faster), or an Ultra Running Book (Run!, or Ultra Running With Scott Jurek). When I read how much infinitely more effort someone else is putting into their training, it reminds me how much more I could be doing.

Of course, you need a goal. Training is always going to be a slog without one.

PRs are always a good bet. What's your favorite distance? How much work will it take to get faster at it?

I may be wrong, but I think you're still in the easy spot. The challenge occurs when every PR you find interesting requires an enormous training investment. Then you have to find new interesting things to train for, or find the time and energy to keep going a step beyond.

Training for the mile (even if you never race one) is a good suggestion, got me out of my post race blues a couple of times after slogging through a summer training for longer races. Running 200's and 400's all out also can be fun.

KerCanDo: I run into this problem every time I finish a major goal, whether it be body related or mind related. When I finished some graduate study in philosophy I had finished some long papers and my projects for the semester -- then I felt revealed not to have all that work on my shoulder, but empty. Same thing when the year ended and I had read my goal of 52 books for the year.

My wife was the first to notice this trend: every time I complete a project the zeal for life seeps from my eyes during the "relaxation" period afterward. So far, the only solution has been to find a new project (hence running a marathon). I still haven't solved how to deal with the between project time, other than trying not to be as grumpy with Mrs. Stadjak.

As your body probably still needs the rest, you might pick a mind-project. Or maybe refinish the boat in the backyard. Just log some easy miles every day so you don't go too flat, but make it an integrated part of your life, rather than a means to an end. Then, after your non-running goal is finished look for a running goal when your body is ready for more work.

But if you solve the "between projects" problem, please let me know. Mrs. Stadjak will put you on the x-mas card list for years!

You just put in a very serious cycle, and chances are what's keeping you from getting back at it is the thought of how hard you worked in that cycle. 10+ hours of training a week is serious commitment.

Just know that you've got a lot of low-hanging fruit (especially in running) that you can pick on more moderate, less time intensive training. You don't have to repeat what you just did, and in fact probably repeating what you just did would likely be a bad training decision that would lead to serious burnout.

So, I like the suggestion of going for a mile PR or a 5k PR. See how fast you can get on 35-40mpw. You might surprise yourself.